Referrals

[Admiral Collections]

I attended my weekly BNI meeting today and wanted to run something by you guys.

BNI works as you may or may not know on a referral system. In your 1 minute speech introducing your company and the services you offer, you also inform the group of what would be a warm or good referral for yourselves. I.e, I am focussing on trying to get into the Accountants as they are the people with the know regarding aged debt and they obviously have customers who struggle in this area so we want to set up a referral system with them. Someone who knows an accountant who would be willing to see us,then of course that's a warm lead.

I was thinking that maybe we could do this via the forum. If we all posted say once a week what would be a good referral for ourselves we could all help each other out by looking out for business opportunities that would benefit our fellow members.

If someone receives a warm referral from a fellow member then they post their success etc. Some of you may not be into this idea but from personal experience, helping and looking out for each other really does pay off dividends and gives you as a referrer a sense of satisfaction.

Let me know what you think. Remember it is the season of goodwill so spread the lurve.

Nic :wink:

 

[james eves]

there's nothing strange in your idea at all! well done for binging it up. If you have effective refferal system before you know it ou are getting referalls from your referalls!
Great idea,im on board.

 

[Coding Monkey]

I agree it's a good idea, but I guess the problem arises when there's more than 1 person in that field. I'm just one of many, many web designers on this board. I'm not one to get jealous or annoyed if another person recommended so and so, but I can see some tensions occuring if someone always comes out on top.

 

[creospace]

If someone always comes up on top are they not doing something right? and how would you know? I guess we just have to use this old fashioned thing called trust and get on with it.

I'm guessing if someone always got the deal and they are trustworthy then we all have something to learn and they presumably would share this information so we can all improve our businesses.

Bring it on.

 

[Coding Monkey]

Well, that's the decent way to look at it.

 

[lgylsen]

Excellent idea Nic!

As part of my business plan I have set up a few meetings with Accountants for the New year, to see how I can implement my program into their industry, so if their is anything I can do to help put you in front of these guys, just ask.

Lorna

 

[Admiral Collections]

Hi

Thanks for your positive response.

I can understand concerns regarding who is giving business to whom and that some guys here are in the same line of business, however, the definition of that is competition. With the referral system, people help people who help them. It's human nature to return a favour so what you gain from this is basically what you put in.

There is something called synergy which shouldnt be overlooked. You may work under the same umberella 'web design' but maybe some of you deal with specific areas and need help in others. For example, James' business is Personal Development and Coaching. He could see a client tomorrow who runs a large accountancy firm who is so pleased with James' efforts that he requests a similar service/training for his staff, James then refers Lorna, who in turn refers me to the accountants.

Let me know your thoughts on how best you think this should run. Like I say BNI meet one day a week and they dish out referrals, they can be cold, warm, or hot.

We need to devise a way in which details are given each week of work that has been gained so that other members can see it working. Maybe you all think a weekly thing is too restrictive, let me know your thoughts. However, BNI work on the theory that in order to gain referrals you need to build trust. Lots of people post threads asking for advice, or just plugging their new products which is fine. How about at the end of it you put a decent referral for me would be (specific trade, industry or even a specific company.) Remember we are only 7 handshakes away from the Queen.

Nic :wink:

PS Decent referral for me would be a team of Accountants who would be prepared to refer me business and in return receive a % of the business their referral has generated.

 

[uksbc]

good idea nic,

i think any way that helps us all generate new leads and business is a good one!

i am on board and will help organise things if needed. i will look at some way of incorporating some of the info we generate into our site as an extra way of helping people

i will have a think about it but i think it would be a good thing to kick off the new year with

 

[Coding Monkey]

You could post with the people you're looking for, and what other members can benefit from you.

For example, printing companies and copywriters can benefit from our branding and website designs. That way you have a two way list.

 

[Admiral Collections]

Uk2b

Thanks for your support, I will put it in my diary to PM you over Xmas New Year and we can discuss things further.

Mac, glad to see your lil brain cells are working and what you have said makes perfect sense!


Nic

 

[Ozzy]

Hi Nic,
I like this idea, and I am a BNI member myself used to working on the referral platform.

Both you and I share the same ideal client, accountants, so there would definitely be some milage in us having a chat at some point. I have a significant number of accountants in my client base and would be happy to talk about how to help each other.

Another type of client you may wish to consider is Solicitors who specialise in debt recovery? I have a few of them on my books too.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

It's a good idea.

The BNI model is a good one and there's no reason why we shouldn't adapt and adopt it to serve us here.

I was an at BNI open day in the summer and there was a talk on "BNI fundamentals".

According to the speaker, one of the keys to BNI's model is that it makes it's members consistently commit the time and effort to the group.

Whether the UKBF equivalent succeeds will probably be down to getting enough people to really buy into this and stay the distance.

Decent referral for me would be a team of Accountants who would be prepared to refer me business and in return receive a % of the business their referral has generated.

Me, too.

Steve

 

[gordonthegofor]

Hi Nic
every one seems so paronoide about loosing bisness
To know of others in the same work would allow you to pass on work that you cannot accomadate at that time
eg I contunily refuse work due to customers wanting it erlyer than I can accomadate if I know personly my competers I could recomend one
no I do not think I would lose work we all have difrent strenths

Gordon

 

[clairemackaness]

I think it's a great idea Nic, I need referrals from any business that has blank walls, but especially hospitality venues and interior design companies.

 

[Admiral Collections]

Hi Claire

How about talking to Hotelexpert, maybe he could do something to help you! He posted the psychology thread earlier this week.



Nic :wink:

 

[Hotelexpert]

Nic, you're a good networker. Yes I do have contacts in hotels and
once I'm familiar with Claire's work I may be able to refer her to hotel managers when I meet or speak to them. The way that works best for me is to mention what she does and if they're interested I'll give them each other's details.

Claire, send me a PM I'll give you a couple of ideas.

Lawrence

 

[acf]

Hi Nic,

It is a briliant idea. No one can run his/her business by remaining under the traditional 'business secrets' notion in 21st century. Referrals, cold or hot, bring businesses and businessperson closer to each other. There should'nt be any fear of losing business or encountering a competition. I know Ozzy is in the same business as of mine and I have no fear of losing any business because of him. He is successful in the business and I should learn lessons from his success. However, I would welcome any referrals from Accountants and Solicitors with % of referral fee to them. I am on board.

 

[clairemackaness]

Thanks Nic and hotel expert. PM sent

 

[Coding Monkey]

I'd be willing to send anyone who contacts me with a budget less than £1000 for a site design to another website design company. I would lose a fortune designing for that rate, but know many other companies could benefit from it. I'd do it for one other company who I consider the best of that sector, cos recommendations reflect on me as well.

 

[Admiral Collections]

Well, already we have discovered a couple of common denominators. Accountants and Solicitors!


Hope you and Hotel Expert can do business Claire. Im so pleased for you

Nic :wink:

 

[fastfences]

Hi Nic.
Count me in. The wider variety of services we can muster, the better off we'll be, although I'm so flat out with my own work. I'll still find time for a bit of bartering though.

Cheers, Nigel

 

[ink4-u]

Nic we haven't chatted before, but its a great idea one of the best i have heard since i have been here although we all have some good ones. this could be great for my business as i have been having many set backs like most people in the line of ink are properly going to get themselves due to Epson and Canon causing trouble. get in touch with me anyway i am interested, some of you may have read already i have lots of connections antique and collectable wise, i know people who deal in the medical industry i have contacts with some top web programmers out in the usa and some great graphic designers in india. i know people who deal in wholesale mobile phones and accessories, ink cartridges and electrical equipment i know people who deal in ex catalogue stock, even know people in the building trade. i have met most of these people via carboot and markets and all i can say is im really lucky to have this little network, and i enjoy UKBF

 

[Rob Holmes]

I guess this is formalising something that quite a few members have been doing for a while now.

I am happy to keep actively refering people to other forum members for their services, and we make a point of giving our business needs to other forum members at any given opportunity rather than use anyone else and have found referrals for hosting from other members have been really encouraging.

We've placed around £1000 of business with forum members in the last few months and have just agreed to spend alot more in the next few months / years.

We've referred probably in excess of £20k of business to other members in the last few months.

Rob

 

[Jayne]

Hi,

I've been doing this already, via PM. Are we doing the referring straight onto the forum now. Is that what you mean?

Jayne

 

[Rob Holmes]

I guess it's for people we meet anywhere - really we all know each others businesses here and know who we'd choose if we needed them.

Although we really appreciate the business thats been referred to us here on the forums and have referred one member to another on more than one occasion!

I think one of the things that makes UKBF shine above the rest is the distinct lack of bickering between competitors here - to continue to be a success it needs to stay that way.

The referrals we have made to others have mainly been from our offline / off-forum contacts.

Rob

 

Could.nt the UKBF have a industry page so that people can find a company quickly. For example
you may know I run a telemarketing company and I would be listed under telemarketing, type it in and me and other companies come up in this industry. Or extend the profiles page I find it a bit weak at the moment, not everyone is aware of the different work we do is a simple example of that.

That said I am up for this too, infact I already do try to pass work on at the UKBF

 

[ink4-u]

i must admit i have and do quite a lot latley say oh yer i know someone that does that and normally they are from UKBF

 

[Admiral Collections]

Hi

The point I was making was for us to actively link people, like I did with Claire and Hotel Expert. In order to do this you need to say specifically what would be the ideal lead for you. I know Claire does fantastic paintings but tonight she was specific with her needs and immediately I thought of Hotel Expert. If I hadn't typed that I was specifically targeting Accountants, then Ozzy would'nt have been any the wiser and wouldn't have shared with me the fact that he deals with Accountants on a regular basis and there is a synergy there. He also added that maybe I should contact solicitors.


Anyway carry on spreading the love and thanks to all who have ordered a free report, I will process them all over the next few days.

Nic :wink:

 

A good client / referal for me would be anyone looking to do:

Appointment Setting
Lead Generation
Attendee Generation
Pipeline Management
List Cleaning
PR
Event Management
or Looking for a Celeb

Not asking much really!! lol

Michael

 

[Admiral Collections]

If you don't ask Michael, you don't get. Maybe someone here can help even if it's in just one of the areas you have listed.

Nic :wink:

 

[lgylsen]

As I am a business/corporate coach we have a wide arena of industries that we can enter, a good client/referral for me would be:

An ex-employee that is just giving birth to their own business.
An employee who would like to go to the next level of their career.
An MD or executive who needs work/life balance.
A company that needs to revive their employees passion in their work.
That person who has still, yes, still not set their goals for 2006!

Phew! what a mouthful.

 

[Chris Martin]

referrals are the best things in the world i feel! With our products we find that customers refer us and our products to 1.2 people within 3 weeks of using the product.

We even pay our customers that refer cilent to us 10% of the profit that those referrals make us per month, so they just keep on referring. And this means sometimes i can still bring in customers without having to pick up the phone every 2 minutes!

Keep on referring people!!

 

[Admiral Collections]

Chris

With your name you must get loads of people making puns!


Nic :wink:

 

[Chris Martin]

oh indeed, and i always remark to them that "i've given it all up as there's more money in telecoms!" I like it as it's a brilliant way to have a quick laugh and share a bit of banter with a prospect or client. If you can relax them and make them enjoy talking to you, then thats half the battle won

By the way i also share the same birthday as my namesake too! pretty spooky huh!

 

[sparklyscotty]

I like the idea, but I am a bit confused as to how it would work. We basically post the kind of referral we need?
E.g. for me, that would be:
I am looking for boutiques/ gift shops (online or physical) to sell my jewellery to; or wedding dress shops to recommend me to brides; or businesses who are looking for corporate gifts for female staff.
-Angel-

 

[Admiral Collections]

Angel, do you cover the Lancs? I have a great leads for you, if you do!

Nic :wink:

 

[VeryMark]

BNI works for us despite my initial sceptism.

One of the ideas evolving amongst some of us locally is setting up strategic marketing alliances between businesses with similar strategies/customers.

Our ideal referral points are (1) solicitors, (2) graphic designers, website designers and promoters, advertising, marketing and product development consultants, and (3) accountants and other business consultants.

These forums are the best thing next to BNI, because there are a group of us who use similar principles - build trust, be consistent, be there for the long term , helping people will help your business.

One idea might be some sort of eBay-type rating system to give feedback, build trust and rate performance.

 

[Deleted member 3454]

I've read this thread with interest and can see the sense in what has been suggested and that's what this forum is all about - ideas and support. Thanks for the suggestion, Nic.

My ideal lead would be businesses (or individuals) who need admin support on a regular basis or for one-off projects.

 

Massive, Massive Long shot but does anyone know anyone withi Chesea FC -Marketing Preferably that they can give me an intro to?

I am sure we all have our perfect clients, and as a life long chelsea fan ( Soon to take over the world - Chelsea not me ) I would love to work with them.

That said I owuld be interested in an Intro to any major company

Michael

 

[Coding Monkey]

The main people who would benefit me are those working within marketing and design, but aren't web designers. There are many graphic designers out there without the knowledge to create websites, who could refer customers to us.

The fact is, that when I mention my target audience, it truly is like a sales pitch as they are small/medium sized business owners looking to expand their marketing reach or increase revenue. We work toward the highest level of professional website design with a 100% recommendation rate and 100% guaranteed satisfaction rate, so we don't apply to most start-up businesses (although have produced them) due to the costs.

If anyone is looking for a website that will represent their companies shop-window for the next 2-3 years, require corporate branding, logo designs or online marketing, we'd be able to help out. As I said, anyone who comes with a < £1000 budget for a website design, I'll refer them to another member who gets in contact.